State media: Hundreds of jihadi fighters in Syria

By The Associated Press
| 3:34 a.m.March 17, 2013

In this citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, anti-Syrian regime protesters raise up their hands as they wave Syrian revolutionary flags during a protest to mark the second anniversary of the their uprising, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday March 15, 2013. The chief of Syria's main, western-backed rebel group marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad on Frida
— AP

In this citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, anti-Syrian regime protesters raise up their hands as they wave Syrian revolutionary flags during a protest to mark the second anniversary of the their uprising, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday March 15, 2013. The chief of Syria's main, western-backed rebel group marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad on Frida
/ AP

DAMASCUS, Syria 
Syrian state media says hundreds of foreign "jihadist" fighters have infiltrated the country in the past two years to join with rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad.

The pro-government al-Watan newspaper alleged on Sunday that the radical foreign fighters were trained in the United States, Britain and France, which are backing the opposition.

The paper says the hundreds of jihadist fighters are responsible for the decline of the Syrian economy and the destruction of the nation's cultural heritage.

The revolt against Assad's authoritarian rule, which began in March 2011, turned into civil war that has claimed more than 70,000 lives. Assad's regime portrays the uprising as a foreign-backed conspiracy to destroy Syria and refers to rebels as terrorists.